A/N: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews and for all the alerts and favorites! I tried to get the next two chapters up as quickly as I could.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter Series is the product of J.K Rowling's wonderful imagination and anything written under my name is nothing like her masterpiece. So yeah, I don't own Harry Potter.
Chapter 3
Hermione Granger felt terrible the next morning when she woke up. It was seven and she only had thirty minutes to fix herself. Plus, her back was hurting, the back of her head was still throbbing with pain and she knew she couldn't last an hour of walking today without complaining. Great.
Groaning, she sat upright and looked around. Her roommates were already gone, their bed already made. Throwing the quilt to the side, she stood up and ran to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her with a loud bang. She took a hurried shower, hastily dried herself, and scrambled around her room to put on her uniform. Fixing her tie, she went to the sink and looked up at her reflection.
"Merlin's beard." She muttered with a groan.
She looked terrible. Terrible couldn't even suffice how she looked. Her eyes, despite the shower she took, was puffy and red, a result after crying so hard last night. The bruises on her neck where Cormac bit her last night could only be partially concealed by her tie. She needed a scarf to hide those ugly-looking bruises. Maybe, a wide scarf, she thought as she tilted her head from side to side, evaluating the damage.
But as she examined and touched those painful spots with her fingers, the memories of last night's events came rushing into her mind like horses in a race. She closed her eyes, fighting the tears she thought she wasn't capable of producing after using them all up during the previous night.
The past was that. Past. She won't let anyone or anything make her feel so afraid and weak again. She needed to regain the strength she used to have. She needed to be confident. She needed to feel grown up. She needed to fit in with the kids her age. She needed to let herself loose for once in her life. She needed to belong. Not just be the geekest geek in their year. Not just be the filthy little Mudblood who knew nothing about life except from what they portray in books.
She knew what she needed. But who, for that matter, was the question she didn't know.
Remembering that her friends were waiting for her at the Great Hall, she scurried out of the bathroom and grabbed her sling bag from the stool in front of her trunk. As she was about to leave, a flash of white caught her eye.
Damn, she forgot to return Theo's handkerchief to him!
Without any plan on how to return it to him in the most inconspicuous way so that people won't wonder why a Gryffindor had a Slytherin's handkerchief with her, she dashed out of her room and flew past the portrait door. She thought of ways to give Theo's handkerchief back to him without attracting attention while she ran her way to the Great Hall. The fact that she was a Gryffindor, not to mention, Harry's best friend, and Theo was a Slytherin and Malfoy's best friend was enough to draw questioning and curious glances from the other students who knew that Gryffindors and Slytherin never socialized. If she told them of the true reason why Theo gave her the handkerchief, some (Gryffindors) would pity her and the others (Slytherin) would make her the House's laughingstock for the whole year. They would probably hate Theo for helping her or make fun of him, too. She weighed the pros and cons of telling the truth, and the odds weren't good.
So, she'd have to keep the truth to herself and make up some lame excuse why she had Theodore Nott's handkerchief with her.
Students were filing in and out of the Great Hall by the time she arrived. She checked her Muggle watch. It was just a few minutes past eight. Good, she thought. Plenty of time for her to eat breakfast. She scanned the room. She found Harry, Ginny and Ron sitting at the Gryffindor table. Funny, no Lavender, she thought with a smug smile. She saw Cormac McLaggen, talking to Katie Bell. Hermione immediately looked away and turned to the Slytherin table and searched for Theo. Malfoy and his goons with Pansy were there, laughing at something Blaise Zabini said. No Theo. Malfoy's eyes flickered toward her as if he sensed her presence and she immediately looked away, still not quite sure why her hormones were out of control whenever his eyes met hers.
Harry was waving at her and was mouthing, "Why are you still standing there?" to her. She smiled and waved back before she started to make her way toward them.
"Hey, Granger!"
Hermione whirled around to find Theodore Nott just walking inside the hall, looking as fresh as ever.
The noise died down at the moment Theo called out to her and Hermione could almost feel everyone stiffen when he stood in front of her.
She tried to sound nonchalant like talking to him was normal when she replied. "Oh, good morning, Theo. I was just looking for you." Then she fished out his handkerchief from her pocket and handed it to him. "Thank you for this, by the way. And I'm sorry if I forgot to return it." She kept her voice low, aware that almost all ears in the hall were straining to hear their conversation.
Theo was smiling when he took the handkerchief from her. "No problem." He said and leaned down to her. "By the way, why are we whispering?"
Hermione stepped forward and whispered back, "Because, you dumb oaf, everyone's listening to our conversation."
Theo pulled back and laughed. The sound echoed all throughout the room. "I know. It's not every day they see a Gryffindor and a Slytherin talking to each other. Much less, the Gryffindor giving the Slytherin back his handkerchief."
She chuckled. "Yes, I know. Anyway, have a nice day, Theodore." She said politely before she continued on to sit beside Harry and Ginny, across Ron.
And then the questions started.
"Why the hell were you talking to Theodore Nott?" That was from Harry.
"And why did you have his handkerchief?" Ginny.
"Are you dating him?" Ron. Obviously.
"Guys, guys," she waved her hands in front of them, "I found him loitering the corridors last night while doing my shift. He dropped his handkerchief so I thought I'd give it to him back but he was in a hurry so I didn't get to return it to him last night. Does that answer your questions?" She didn't look at them as she gave them her lie. She gathered her breakfast in her plate and took a bite on the toast, even though she didn't feel like eating. If she didn't eat, her friends would start to worry again. So, she forced to herself to swallow. "And I'm not dating him, Ronald." She told Ron with a hint of bitterness in her tone that was not in her voice when she referred to Ginny and Harry.
She picked up today's Daily Prophet newspaper and began reading the front page, dismissing the discussion.
ooo
By the time Theodore Nott reached his table, Malfoy was still not done glaring holes into his skin. If looks could kill, Theo would now be triple dead.
Draco didn't know why he felt like punching his best friend's face but from the moment he called out to Hermione and stood so close to her, he forgot that Theo was his best friend. He suddenly saw him as a rival.
Whoa, whoa, wait, he hastily thought. Rival? Rival for what? The Mudblood? Hell, no. He was obsessed with her, all right, but was he in love with her? Fuck, no. He didn't even know if he liked the Mudblood. Obsession and liking, in his dictionary, were two different things. Obsession was something one could easily get rid of but liking… that's a bit more complicated. Liking was a pathway to falling in love. And he didn't want to fall in love with anyone. Much less, Hermione Granger.
But why the in Salazar Slytherin's name was he so bothered that someone else was standing so close to her? He knew Theo all too well. The guy never approached a girl with such familiarity if he didn't like her. And by the looks of it, Draco thought irately as he watched Theo leaning down into Granger, his best friend was without a doubt into her. The infuriating girl he was currently obsessing of and at night, jerking off to the thought of.
Fuck.
"Morning, guys." Theo said cheerfully as he sat between Pansy and Blaise, appearing like he wasn't aware that most of the people in their House and in the other Houses were staring at him.
"What the hell was that about?" Draco demanded, still glowering at him.
Theo bit his buttered toast. "Hmm? About what?"
Draco gave him a sardonic smile. "Oh, I don't know, Queen Elizabeth, maybe… what do you think? You suddenly goody-goody with the little Mudblood, of course!"
Theo shrugged. "She gave me my handkerchief back." He answered as if that answered all their questions.
Draco rolled his eyes. "Fuck you, Theo, what the hell was she doing with your handkerchief?"
"Yeah." Pansy said. "I didn't know you were giving out your hankies now." She mocked.
Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle guffawed while Draco waited for Theo's explanation, still fuming.
"So?" He prompted when Theo continued being busy with his bacon and toast.
Theo swallowed his food before answering. "Nothing important. Besides, it's not my tale to tell." And turned to Blaise, engaging him in a conversation about his detention last night with Filch.
Draco angrily let the topic drop for now. But he watched Theo through breakfast. He caught him sneaking glances at Granger and a smile would curve his lips. It was a knowing, devious smile that Draco was already familiar to after having to put up with him since first year. That infamous smile meant that he was on to chasing another girl. And, in this case, it was without a doubt to Draco who that girl was.
With his breakfast half-finished, he stood up without saying anything to his surprised friends and furiously strode out of the Great Hall, cussing all the cusses he knew to himself.
He needed to get rid of this obsession before it was completely without control.
Theo secretly smiled when Draco angrily left.
He'd known for awhile now that his best friend was having a few interesting thoughts about the Granger girl. But the stupid guy was just too afraid and too full of pride to man up and ask the girl out. So, he took it to himself to handle the situation for him.
What was better than jealousy when it came to motivating an ass to pursue the girl he dug?
As he looked back and glanced at Hermione, he found her staring after Draco's incensed retreating form. Huh. This won't probably be hard, he thought with a smile. It looked like the woman was having interesting thoughts about his friend, too. He mentally shook his head. But then Hermione looked away with a frown and her gaze shifted to the front where half of the faculty was having breakfast. He saw her shudder and close her eyes, looking down at her plate. Theo followed where she was looking and he felt a sudden burst of anger in him.
The fucking asshole, McLaggen, was sitting with that Quidditch girl, Katie Bell, who was busy talking with another Gryffindor at the farthest part of their table, near the professors. He was staring directly at Hermione with vengeance in his eyes. Big problem there, he concluded. He had to tell Draco about that. He just hoped Hermione would forgive him for interfering.
ooo
After breakfast, Hermione went off to her Ancient Runes class while Harry and Ron went back to their Common Room since it was their Free Period. Lucky them.
For the first time in Hermione's life, she felt like skipping her classes and just stay in her room to sleep. She was tired and wanted nothing else than to lock herself in her room where she couldn't see Cormac so that she'd be able to completely forget the fact that she almost got rape last night. Breakfast had been terrible for her. As much as she blocked all those terrifying images, it entered her mind like how easily one could swallow food.
"Miss Granger?" She felt Professor Babbling touch her lightly on the shoulder as she passed her table.
Hermione mentally shook herself back to reality and managed a smile for the concerned professor. "I'm fine, professor. I'm just feeling a bit exhausted lately." She rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand as she opened her book to the desired page.
Professor Babbling nodded and patted her hair before walking back to the front. "Children." She muttered to herself.
Hermione rubbed her eyes and sat up straight, intent on focusing on the class. If the professor were concerned of her a few minutes ago, she wasn't now because Hermione was back to her old self. The one who raised her hand when needed and not needed. The one who had the answer to every question. The professor was glad.
So, the rest of the day carried on like that.
After Ancient Runes, Defense against the Dark Arts flew a bit longer than Hermione's previous class did. It was all because of Professor Snape who took pride in other students' (Gryffindors') faults while his House laughed and snickered at the back. Once or twice, he commented about Hermione being an incorrigible know-it-all. As Harry and Ron bit back their tongue and their rude comeback in Hermione's behalf, she just shut her ears off and replied in a very civil tone to the cynical professor, "I apologize, professor". She also tried her best not to notice that Malfoy kept on staring at her. He was sitting a few tables from her and Harry and whenever Hermione looked back, she saw him frowning at her as if she did something wrong. She forced herself not to be bothered about that, too. After her morning break, she was off to her Arithmancy class which she shared with Cormac who happened to be sitting just two seats from her. He tried to advance on her several times but Hermione made it sure that she wasn't alone. When she went to the Great Hall for lunch, Neville accompanied her and she spent her afternoon break at the Quidditch field, watching Harry, Ron and Ginny practice for the opening game on Saturday against Slytherin. Even if she didn't understand much about the game, she cheered when the reaction was needed. By the time the team finished, she found out that she enjoyed watching Quidditch practices. And it also didn't give Cormac any opportunity to approach her because Harry and Ron were near. When the men finished their showers and were already in their clean uniforms, the trio took off to their next class which was Double Potions. With Slyhterin.
Magnificent.
Unfortunately when they arrived, the class had already begun four minutes ago but since Professor Slughorn didn't much bother with tardiness, he just let them in without any questions.
"Come on, now, children, scurry off to your places. We've got an interesting lesson today." Professor Slughorn said cheerfully.
Harry and Ron were already seated while Hermione was still standing, looking for a vacant place. And, Merlin, if fate didn't interfere, but the only unoccupied cauldron was beside Malfoy. Hermione had no choice but to take the place unless she preferred standing at the back which she didn't. Prefer.
She caught Theo's eye when she moved to her cauldron and she smiled at him. Theo waved and grinned back with a wink. Hermione blushed and set down her bag on the floor, ignoring Malfoy who was, still, frowning at her.
That didn't surprise her, though. All the guy ever did was frown when he was not smirking.
Professor Slughorn cleared his throat, calling for everyone's attention. "Today's activity will be done by partners, specifically the person beside you to be convenient. And what will you, children, do? You are going to mix up a love potion for me and the winner, or shall I say, winners will receive a bottle of good old Felix Felisis, just like dear boy Harry here earned two weeks ago. Isn't that right, my boy?" He turned to Harry who turned slightly red.
"Yes, sir." Harry replied while Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Now, on to your work! Chop chop!" Professor Slughorn clapped his hands twice, signaling the students to start gathering their ingredients.
He wouldn't have won Felix if he didn't have any help from that Half-Blood Prince of his, Hermione thought with a twinge of jealousy.
"Still can't forgive him for ousting you?" She heard Malfoy say with a smirk.
Hermione turned to him and found him standing too close to her. She swiftly took one step away from him before brushing her hair back in a very haughty manner. "I don't see if it's any of your business, Malfoy, and kindly, step back, please."
Malfoy smirked again. "Why? We're partners, right? And what good will it do if we stand far away from each other?" He said and then leaned close to her ear, whispering huskily, "Is my being too close a bother to you, Granger?"
Oh, dear, God. That voice. That sexy voice. Hermione almost moaned at the sound of it. Almost. His velvet voice vibrated through her skin down to her lady bits. She felt a little tingling in her stomach that she hadn't felt before and the room was suddenly warm.
She turned her back at him and went to the cupboards to collect the ingredients needed. She had already read the topic about love potions a week ago so she knew what components were needed. As she was stepping back from the throng of students, gathering their materials, she bumped into Malfoy who she didn't know was standing right behind her.
Good thing she had a firm hold on the bottles because if she didn't, they would have fallen and crashed down to the floor.
Hermione whirled around and glared at him. "I told you not to stick against my back, Malfoy. Or is that just too difficult for your tiny brain?" She murmured sarcastically as they made their way back to their station.
"You don't have to sound so miffed, Granger. I intended to help you carry the vials but you decided you could handle them so why argue?" He shrugged as he leaned forward to help her fix their ingredients on the counter. "I've read the lesson a couple of times already a few days ago so I guess this wouldn't be hard." He said as he opened the vials.
Hermione snorted. "Yeah, right. As if I'd believe that."
Malfoy suddenly dropped the dagger he was holding on the table. The noise inside the room was too loud that no one heard the fall. Then, he turned to face Hermione with a firm and serious face she never knew he was capable of conjuring. "Look, Granger, if you want to win this activity to prove to Slughorn that you're fucking better than Potter, we might as well get along even just for this class. If it were just me, I won't even give a fuck about finishing this but because I ended up as your partner and you happen to give a big fuck about proving yourself to Slughorn, then decide now if you can be nice or civil, at least for two hours." He said in a hard voice before turning his back at her.
Hermione had never been afraid of Malfoy before. Angry at, yes, but afraid? No.
But at that moment, as she stared at Malfoy's back, she was struck by the knowledge that she was, indeed, afraid of him.
ooo
A/N: I'll be posting the 5th chapter on Saturday and from then, it would be a regular one-chapter update. Review, please! I love hearing your thoughts about the chapter. :)
